The Weasel's Wettest Cousin 



by Pete Barrett . . . paintings by Charles Culver 



ANYTHING connected with water is a snap for the otter. I was 

 treated to a display of an otter family frolicking in Idaho's 

 Big Wood River, on a rock-studded stretch down which water 

 hurtled and foamed at millrace speed. I wouldn't have risked it 

 in a sealed barrel. But for those five otters it was Coney Island 

 with a tail wind on the roller coaster. The parents came first, 

 showing the pups the way. The superb style with which the por- 

 poising otters avoided the rocks was impressive enough. But this 

 really got me: they were swimming downstream with all they 



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